Doolittle Raid

The Doolittle Raid was an American air attack on Tokyo and other Japanese cities, led by Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle. Sixteen B-25 Mitchell bombers, normally land-based aircraft, took off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet far out in the Pacific, and bombed targets including Tokyo, Yokohama and Nagoya. The planes did not have enough fuel to return, so they flew on to China, where the crews bailed out or crash-landed. Most of the airmen survived, helped by Chinese civilians, but the Japanese took brutal revenge on villages that were thought to have aided them. The raid caused little physical damage, but it was a major boost to American morale after Pearl Harbor and led Japan to rethink its defenses, which contributed to its decision to attack Midway.

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